Chapter 123 New Fortune Magazine Voting

"I heard that rainy days go better with milk tea."

"Wish comes true!"

The waiter wearing a baseball cap with the "Bu Du" brand logo put his hands together and announced solemnly and loudly. The female college student who got the signal was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into the ground.

Several classmates and friends successfully pulled off the prank, and they were laughing and jokingly discussing how to trick the next victim into coming to the party tomorrow. Thanks to the recent typhoon and heavy rain, they were able to continue with the prank of passing the parcel.

The marketing plan of "half-price for the second cup on rainy days" combined with secret codes has quietly taken on social attributes, and Budu Milk Tea has begun to transform into a kind of social currency for young people, just like trendy sneakers and Internet celebrity restaurants a few years later.

Xie Jingxing stood in front of the store and watched with interest for a while. The store, which originally had a spacious area of ​​100 square meters, now looked a little cramped. Half of the dining tables for customers were removed and replaced with several glass cabinets similar to those in museum exhibition cabinets.

A large number of wooden carvings and hand-woven soft furnishings in the style of traditional Bai folk houses have been temporarily removed and replaced with decorations with historical and cultural elements of porcelain and tea culture. The ceiling lighting is soft and clear, suitable for visits.

A three-minute short documentary is played on the big TV screen in the store, from the Ancient Tea-Horse Road to Ru Kiln Porcelain.

Budu, a milk tea brand originated in Yunnan, adheres to the traditional tea culture with a long history and for the first time has brewed a new national trend.

"Mr. Xie, the venue has been arranged in advance. Shall we go over and take a look?" A thin middle-aged man in an oversized suit came forward and greeted him.

This person's name is Gu Zhengwen. He worked in Yangyuan Drinks for many years as an assistant to the marketing director. He often used his brain to drink more "Six Walnuts", which is a classic marketing campaign created by their team. They are very good at differentiated competition and market positioning marketing.

The most interesting thing is that when Xie Jingxing was interviewed in Chuncheng before going to the United States in September, he was asked why he left Yangyuan Drinks, which had the potential to go public, and traveled all the way from Hebei to Chuncheng to join a lesser-known milk tea brand.

And he is still serving as assistant to the marketing operations officer, which can hardly be considered as preferring to be the head of a chicken rather than the tail of a phoenix.

Gu Zhengwen said in a Trump accent that Yangyuan Drinks seems to have a bright future but has actually reached its ceiling. Even if the growth rate is good in the next few years, it will only enter a short period of explosive growth relying on the market accumulation of the past years.

In fact, the market size of the entire plant protein beverage is at a high platform, and will only turn downward and shrink in the future. Compared with gift fast-moving consumer goods products such as Six Walnuts, freshly brewed milk tea in daily life consumption scenarios has more potential.

After hearing this reason, Xie Jingxing immediately recruited him as his subordinate. He liked to cooperate with gamblers who were ambitious and capable.

Gu Zhengwen also joined the company with great vigour and determination. He personally promoted the recent cultural and creative marketing activities of Shanghai's offline stores and Jiaotong University, as well as the online promotion of documentaries at the brand level, including a collaboration with Jingdezhen porcelain craftsmen and a pop-up porcelain museum.

In just one month, I saved up more than ten plane tickets. It is not easy for a middle-aged man with a wife and children to do this.

"Let me introduce you to Professor Chen from the Palace Museum."

Walking side by side into the meeting room rented in a hotel near the store, Gu Zhengwen introduced several experts who had been waiting for a long time: "This is Professor Wu, a specially appointed expert in art appraisal at Pacific Insurance. Pacific Insurance will provide security and maintenance for this flash exhibition throughout the entire process."

"Thank you for your hard work." Xie Jingxing waved his hand.

Li Yan silently placed the two safes in his hands on the conference table and opened them. There was a Ding kiln white porcelain bowl from the Northern Song Dynasty, a pair of Jian kiln tea cups from the Southern Song Dynasty, and a green pomelo flower vase from the Longquan kiln.

These four antiques from his private collection will be part of the exhibits for the upcoming pop-up museum event, and the remaining exhibits need to be replicated by Jingdezhen ceramic craftsmen.

"Is this Ding kiln piece of yours the one that was sold at the Sotheby's autumn auction in Hong Kong two years ago?"

Seeing Li Yan laying out the four pieces of porcelain one by one, Professor Chen from the Palace Museum grabbed a pair of white gloves to examine them, and another appraisal expert and the business manager of the insurance company came forward.

Xie Jingxing nodded and introduced: "Not only this Ding kiln piece, the remaining three pieces have been auctioned before, and the identification and certification procedures are complete."

"The Song Dynasty porcelain collection market has great potential in recent years. Mr. Xie is indeed a powerful figure in the investment industry and has a good understanding of collection investment."

The expert surnamed Wu was amazed at the pair of Jianzhan teapots. The market for Jianzhan teapots was lukewarm before, but in the past two years, it is obvious that someone has been speculating on the price, from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions.

If this pair of Jianzhan teapots in good condition were to be auctioned now, the base price would be at least 15 million, and it would be profitable to sell them, which is no less than the return on financial investment.

Xie Jingxing smiled but said nothing. He really didn't know how to collect antiques. He just picked the ones that caught his eye and brought them home.

Making money can only be said to be the Matthew effect. For example, he actually spent nearly 918 million to reserve a Porsche .

Normally, he doesn't take good care of it and drives it on any bad road, but ten years later, someone is willing to spend 25 million to buy this used car.

This is true for houses, antiques, women, and almost every aspect. Although one simply has a collecting mentality, he is praised as having a unique eye and a good way of collecting.

Therefore, Xie Jingxing seldom resells second-hand goods. He really cannot imagine the situation where the things he is tired of playing with are bought by others at a high price, and they are happily brought home and wish to make a tablet for their ancestors. For some reason, he feels like a pervert's dream has been fulfilled.

“They are all good things.”

Professor Chen from the Palace Museum seemed to have similar ideas as him. He looked over the four collections over and over again, commenting on them and explaining the elegant knowledge, but he never mentioned the price.

After the appraisal, the expert surnamed Wu gave an estimated value of 25 million in total. Professor Chen raised his nose and nodded slightly to show his approval of the estimate.

The insurance company's lawyer drafted a contract and signed it on the spot. Over the next week, four pieces of the collection would be put on display under their custody, with the Budu Magic City store and the Chuncheng store each exhibiting for three days.

After the insurance company took the collection away, Gu Zhengwen enthusiastically escorted Professor Chen to the car and back to the meeting room.

Xie Jingxing poured him a cup of tea and commented, "This Professor Chen looks a bit like a scholar."

"Yes, Professor Chen is also a master's supervisor at the Academy of Social Sciences. He focuses on traditional cultural relics and academic concepts, and is quite averse to commercial operations."

Gu Zhengwen sighed helplessly, "Maybe because he happens to be an expert in the field of ancient porcelain, the Palace Museum arranged for him to contact us. If it doesn't work out, I'll go to Beijing to discuss it again in a while."

"Let's talk slowly. There's no rush for long-term marketing planning." Xie Jingxing consoled him.

He had mentioned the idea of ​​collaborating with the Palace Museum before, and Gu Zhengwen took it very seriously. He took advantage of this flash mob event to hire experts from the Palace Museum to help with the valuation, trying to use this as a starting point to establish a relationship.

Last year, a series of scandals occurred in the Palace Museum. The new director was appointed to the position and seemed to be determined to restore the museum's glory. He humbled himself and actively embraced the trend. He was not shy about commercial operations and gladly accepted the goodwill of private enterprises.

But in the end, I don’t know why such an expert professor who talks about elegance but not money was sent here.

When Gu Zhengwen was sending Professor Chen downstairs, he tried several times to communicate further, but the other party did not respond at all and even complained about the humid weather in Shanghai.

"Do you think it's reasonable for our brand to sponsor certain popular variety shows that promote traditional Chinese culture?" Xie Jingxing thought for a while and asked. In a few years, variety shows such as "National Treasure" and "Chinese Poetry Conference" will be very popular. From the perspective of commercial investment in program production, there will definitely be profits, but it is hard to say whether advertising sponsors will make money.

Especially fast-moving consumer goods retailers such as milk tea brands are not sensitive to traditional marketing promotions.

"It's hard to say. We need to do a market research first." Gu Zhengwen did not express his opinion.

Xie Jingxing smiled and said, "I have to look at three projects every day, from all industries. Obviously, I can't understand all industries, so I can only apply some of the methodologies I know to different business models."

“…If there are so-called high-profile and high-quality traditional cultural variety shows on the market, sponsorship will definitely improve our brand tone, but market research is really necessary for sales growth. After all, freshly brewed milk tea is a new type of industry.” Gu Zhengwen was silent for a few seconds and spoke tactfully.

After Xie Jingxing got the answer, he stopped worrying and talked about something else: "How is the progress of the 'Yinshan Tea Language' sub-brand investment promotion plan?"

"The investment promotion team has completed training and will focus on the local market in Spring City before the end of the year. The commissioning feedback of the specially customized latte art equipment for 'Jieyou Milk Tea' has been good and it will be put into production within two weeks if nothing goes wrong. President Cui plans to use 'Jieyou Milk Tea' to stimulate market demand and reversely help the investment promotion."

Gu Zhengwen paused and added: "The specific plan has just been made, and I haven't had time to send it to you."

"Anything else?"

Xie Jingxing did not comment. He paid much less attention to the sub-brand of 'Yinshan Tea Language' than 'Budu' because he had not yet found the time to fully master the management of Yunhe Logistics.

Gu Zhengwen solemnly took out a pile of folders from his briefcase: "These documents need your signature, including the Budu brand marketing budget plan, the Yinshan Tea menu list... By the way, President Cui asked me to tell you that she received the car you gave her and she likes it very much."

"...That's good." Xie Jingxing's signing action paused slightly.

Last month, on the second day after Yunshan Group donated 100 million yuan in cash to the Public Security Department of YN Province, Chuncheng City launched a special late autumn thunder crackdown on gangs and cracked several cases that night, one of which involved internal anti-corruption.

Peng Chuanming's father went into a small dark room to drink tea, and Peng hurriedly sold three Land Rovers with seven license plates to cash in.

After this incident, Cui A-liu avoided communication vaguely, and tried her best to let Gu Zhengwen convey work matters and had no private contact. She did not even send a blessing text message on Mid-Autumn Festival, which was somewhat due to her non-violent and non-cooperative attitude.

Xie Jingxing didn't take it seriously. He put himself in his shoes and thought, if someone were to force him to drain the fish pond he had carefully tended for many years, fish out the fish in it, stew it into soup, and force-feed it to him... it would be quite embarrassing, and he wouldn't be able to raise fish in the future...

After signing numerous documents that had accumulated over a month, it was noon and Gu Zhengwen treated his guests to lunch at his own expense.

Xie Jingxing ran to the "Bu Du" store to queue up and exchange secret codes to buy two cups of half-price milk tea. The new media reporters who were arranged in advance took photos and recorded videos, and issued publicity to warm up for the flash event starting next week.

The marketing promotion of "Bu Du" has come to an end for him for the time being. In the afternoon, he went to the Shanghai branch of Yunhe Logistics to repeat the same operation, hold a meeting to sign documents and talk nonsense to follow up on the progress of the project.

The daily life of an investor is like this. It can be exciting as you get to see countless interesting projects in various industries, but it can also be boring.

Whether the project succeeds or fails, it all belongs to the founder. Investors are like mercenaries or blood-sucking worms. All stories can only accompany them for a while and end abruptly at the top of the mountain.

Just as the famous NBA commentator commented on Durant - he has no roots and is always wandering on the road.

…………

"Do I have to go to this drinking party?"

At night, in Taihe's office, Xie Jingxing lay down on his office chair as if paralyzed and was on strike.

After returning to Shanghai, I spent a day and a half handling investment business, following up on the Budu marketing project, and going to Yunhe to compete with a group of gangsters. Even triathletes don't work so hard.

Song Anli was unmoved: "This is not the first time that New Fortune Magazine has invited you for an interview, and it has given Grapefruit Capital a lot of voting rights. If you don't go again, you will offend people."

"Didn't you say that this drinking party was organized by Juntai?" Xie Jingxing was puzzled.

Song Anli helped him take his coat off the hanger and walked closer: "There are also editors from New Fortune here. Juntai is going public and they are actively canvassing for votes."

"Alright, kill two birds with one stone." Xie Jingxing stood up angrily.

Song Anli put his coat on and straightened the hem of his clothes, and corrected him: "Kill three birds with one stone."

New Fortune Magazine is one of the more authoritative financial media in China. It has an industry award for "Analyst of the Year", in which sell-side institutions such as securities firms compete, and buy-side institutions such as private equity firms vote.

The team that wins the first place in this award will at least have its annual salary doubled, and its status in the industry will skyrocket, giving it some face wherever it goes. Therefore, at the end of each year, a few months before the selection, contestants from all walks of life begin to canvass for votes.

A classic example of this is the scandal in which a male leader, who was protective of his beautiful female subordinate, licked another male colleague at the dinner table with his tongue.

Taihe Capital has voting rights and a high proportion of them, but they were distributed to Liu Qiming and several MDs, which can be regarded as a personal benefit given by the company to everyone.

Grapefruit Capital had just been established and logically had no voting rights, but New Fortune Magazine gave face to Xie Jingxing and placed all the voting rights in his personal hands.

Everyone is carrying the sedan chair, so he has reason to take it seriously and cast a solemn vote. Not only can he repay the favor of Xincaiwu, but he can also do Juntai a favor.

This is a good opportunity to say hello to colleagues in the industry. Grapefruit Capital has secured voting rights at New Fortune and secured its position in the industry, breaking away from the ranks of the underdogs and becoming a well-known buyer. In the future, Grapefruit's entertainment expenses when going out for research can be raised to a higher level.

Of course, licking the tongue can be omitted, Xie Jingxing doesn't like it.

The journey was uneventful until we arrived at the Yangfang Hotpot Restaurant, where the average consumption per person was over a thousand yuan. The editor of New Fortune magazine and the analyst team from Juntai Securities who had signed up to participate in the election were drinking tea and playing Texas Hold'em.

There were several plates of cold dishes on the dining table, four bottles of Moutai were all opened, and some bottles of Yellow Crane Tower 1916 were placed casually.

"Mr. Xie, I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please take a seat." The leader of Juntai's analyst team with sparse hair laughed heartily.

Just as he finished speaking, a beautiful analyst who was accompanying him heard the starting gun and stepped forward charmingly, bringing with her a gust of fragrant wind: "Mr. Xie, I have heard of your great name for a long time, and I finally meet you today."

"Hello."

Xie Jingxing politely extended his hand, and the beautiful woman took his hand and leaned over to hug him, the posture was very much like the opening move of a tango dance.

Song Anli pursed her rosy lips, smiled, lifted her hair and looked at her calmly.

(End of this chapter)